OSCE Mission to BiH Highlights Importance of Cybersecurity Partnerships

As cyber threats continue to grow in complexity and cross national and sectoral boundaries, addressing them requires co-ordinated action and collaboration. To meet this challenge, the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina organized a conference and panel discussion "Supporting Awareness Raising on Cybersecurity Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Best Practice," in Sarajevo. The event brought together decision-makers from BiH institutions, the private sector, academia, and civil society organizations to engage in dialogue and explore practical solutions for enhancing cybersecurity co-operation.

Recognizing the need for joint approaches in cyberspace, the OSCE participating States adopted Cyber/ICT Confidence-Building Measure (CBM) No. 14, which encourages the promotion of public-private partnerships and the sharing of best practices to address common security challenges.

Zahid Movlazada, Deputy Head of the OSCE Mission to BiH, noted that Bosnia and Herzegovina has made important strides, but significant work still lies ahead. "Bosnia and Herzegovina remains the only country in South-East Europe without a state-level cybersecurity strategy and a Computer Emergency Response Team. Adopting such a strategy and establishing a CERT would provide the country with the tools and mechanisms needed to withstand a future increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence, cyber espionage, critical infrastructure disruptions, ransomware, and information warfare."" He invited participants to join forces across sectors, institutions, and borders to find solutions together and strengthen the country's resilience.

The conference aimed to promote public-private partnerships in cybersecurity by presenting their value and practical mechanisms for development. It also sought to advance the implementation of OSCE CBM 14 by showcasing global, regional, and local case studies of effective partnerships and highlighting lessons learned from successful collaborative initiatives. Through these discussions, participants identified common goals and concrete steps toward strengthening BiH's digital resilience.

Emina Merdan, former Ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the European Union and Head of the EU Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stressed that a range of technical skills and knowledge is required to detect, defend against, respond to, and recover from ICT incidents. "In this context, public-private sector partnerships and co-operation, including regular dialogue and the exchange of good practices, can contribute to building trust. While governments play the primary role in implementing confidence-building measures -- both domestically and at the state level, as well as by promoting and engaging internationally, and are responsible for planning and allocating resources and adopting appropriate policies -- the private sector, including technology companies and cybersecurity firms, is crucial for implementing these measures due to its technical expertise and resources, and can collaborate with governments to enhance the security of ICT products and services, as well as participate in the exchange of information and best practices."

This conference was organized as part of the Mission's project "Building Sustainable Cybersecurity Capacities in BiH" and forms part of wider efforts to strengthen the country's cybersecurity resilience.